Since losing LeBron James, Heat President Pat Riley has been aggressive in putting together what in the East should be a playoff team, a good team, led by two passing and floor-spacing big men in Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts.

But they need a small forward to fill James’ slot, and they are still trying to make that Luol Deng.

The Heat, sources say, want to do a two-year deal with Deng in the $20 million range to team him with the freshly re-signed Chris Bosh and soon-to-be-reupped Dwyane Wade. Sources say it’s possible Wade’s looming deal with the Heat might not be finalized until next week while negotiations with Deng continue.

The question is money — remember Deng turned down three years, $30 million from the Bulls. He wants more than $10 million a year and so far nobody is going there.

Both the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks — two teams that have quietly had good off-seasons — are trying to get in on Deng too. The Hawks would be an interesting fit. Remember Atlanta was the third best team in the East until Al Horford went down, and a front line of Horford, Paul Millsap and Deng with Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver in the backcourt could do some damage in the East. However, some reports say talks with Atlanta have died down, and money is likely the reason.

The other team trying to get in the Deng running that also would be an interesting fit is Phoenix — he would bring them defense and his scrappy scoring style fits with their offense and deep backcourt.

Deng’s agent would be wise to try and get these teams into a bidding war (and try to get more years), but if he will not settle for what the market seems to offer this could drag out.

I think Deng would be a great fit in Atlanta personally. It’s funny how the landscape of the NBA has really shifted this offseason, more than people expected. Still I think that makes it less likely for future moves. Take KD for instance, I don’t think he’ll go back to DC to ‘go home’ because then he’s just following what LeBron did

I still have faith in Riles to put together a playoff team..however I dont see us eing a legit contender until we have another star to pair with chris bosh (yes wade is a star, but its based off what he did vs what he can do.)

He need to resign Wade get Deng and 2 solid bench players at the 2 and the 4 like Rodney Stuckey and Dejuan Blair they’ll be contenders again if the do
Starting 5
Shabazz Napier
Dwayne Wade
Loul Deng
Josh Mcroberts
Chris Bosh
Key Role players
Rodney Stuckey
Danny Granger
Dejuan Blair
Norris Cole
They would be legit contenders In my opinion

Hard to accept 20 mil for 2 yrs after turning down 30 mil for 3 yrs. After the second half he went through in Cleveland and looking at what he’s being offered now, he should have taken that deal from the bulls. But hindsight is 20/20.

Sure, that’s fine. And I’ve seen similar posts from Miami fans talking about how they’d rather have someone else at another position instead of Deng. But I think some people in Miami are forgetting a small detail… LeBron is on another team in the East. All of a sudden, “how do we deal with LeBron?” rockets up the priority list.

Bigs and depth. That is how you beat LeBron. With Birdzilla close to signing you have Birdzilla, McBob, Bosh, Hamilton. Riley will make a play at Boozer when he’s amnestied. A Greg Monroe signing would be huge.

Imagine that front line. You bring back Rio, so PG is deep if not all that talented with Rio, Chalmers, Napier
You have Wade, Granger, and Ennis on the wing.

Miami needs to land Eric Bledsoe period. Deng is a nice stop gap but I truly believe Riley’s last hoorah before he sets off into the sun will be Trying to land the last big fish in 2016. To pair with Bledsoe and Bosh. They wil be nice and legit.

Dallas has had a good off-season? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve read. They struck out on every free agent they went after. Not only that, but they were robbed by the Knicks on draft day. Any team that went from starting Jose Calderon at the 1 to Ray Felton, who was without a doubt the worst starting point guard in the league last year, got considerably worse. Tyson Chandler is no longer a good 5, and he’s been breaking down the last 2 years.

Dallas should look at how the Lakers are rebuilding by acquiring draft picks instead of continuing to swing and miss year after year on free agents. Dirk only has 2-3 years left. When he’s gone it will be a while before they are relevant again.